Zaggmate iPad Case with Wireless Bluetooth Keyboard Review

There are a few things missing on the Apple iPad and one of them is a keyboard.   I know, I know there is a virtual keyboard, but some folks are just old fashioned and I’m one of them.  I love having a keyboard that I can actually feel the buttons on.  Another good reason to have a keyboard is to take the wear and tear off your iPad!  Touch screens are only good for about 1 – 2 million touches and then they start having issues.  Why not beat on the wireless keyboard that you can replace and costs less than $100?  You can use it for any device that has bluetooth really but it is designed specifically for the iPad. 

As you can see the case was designed to match the iPad exterior.  It’s made of a pretty tough aluminum so it isn’t going to crack or get beat up.  The aluminum is pretty light so it doesn’t add a whole lot of weight to the iPad and that’s pretty nifty because it has a qwerty keyboard in there as well.

The keyboard has a row that you slide your iPad into, then you lean the iPad back onto a little support stand that pops up.  The one issue I have with the entire unit is the stand because it is deceptively flimsy feeling although I have to say it has not shown any indication that it is going to break on me; which is suprising yet refreshing. 

The setup is a breeze on this Zaggmate.  You literally go into your iPad and enable bluetooth.  Then you turn it on and click the little sync button on the keyboard.  After a few seconds your iPad will find the keyboard and you click on name of it on your iPad to connect it.  It will then tell you to type a password into your keyboard.  You do that and it’s sync’d up.  You will never have to go through that process again unless you switch to another iPad.

The batteries on the keyboard last forever.  I mean it, I have used it like 100 times and I have yet to charge it.  (Now that I said that I’m sure I’ll have to go charge it soon LOL!!  Murphy’s Law).

A few things I’ve found this useful for. 

1. Typing (LOL!!) it’s true though, even if you are a fan of the virtual keyboard it still takes up valuable screen real estate and on something small like an iPad that can make the difference between being able to see everything you need to and not.
2. If you are a nerd, system administrator, or anyone else that needs to RDP into a Windows based computer you will find this to be absolutely irreplaceable.  I mean it.  You can use any of the apps that have the virtual keyboard support to do it.  When you engage your RDP connection you can hit the virtual keyboard button and presto you are using the bluetooth keyboard in an RDP session on your iPad.  Now that is very cool and talk about saving time!
3. Look like you know what you are doing with your iPad.  If you have a keyboard it says “I’m tech-savvy and I know how to bring this thing to its knees”.  (Just think of me walking around the corner in Barnes & Nobles with my glasses, my pocket protector, my ipad w/zagg mate, in slow mo, with that BOW BOW CHICKAAAAA music.  You know what I’m talking about; tough guy style!).  I go up to the Starbucks counter and say “I’ll take a Venti Coffee Black” with that death stare from nerd hell.

Anyway for $99 it’s a great gift and you don’t need to be a nerd to love it.  Protect your iPad and give yourself more options; it’s like leaping a tall building in a single bound.